Sand Trap
Saudi Arabia launched LIV Golf in a hostile takeover of the sport. Now it looks like the oil-rich nation can't afford to stay on course.
This Week In Blunders – April 11-18
“I am convinced that there was a direct line between at least some of the terrorists who carried out the September 11th attacks and the government of Saudi Arabia,” – former Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., who led a joint 2002 Congressional inquiry into the attacks.
The Saudis are not our friends, except when it comes to oil and money, and no one should expect to engage them in a friendly round of golf.
Saudi Arabia’s alleged complicity in the 911 attacks, its suspected funding of terrorists, its 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, and its long record of human rights abuses – these were all obvious red flags when Saudi’s public investment fund launched LIV Golf in 2022.
Nevertheless, some of the sport’s top players defected to LIV Golf, lured by signing bonuses and contracts reaching into the hundreds of millions. Some of these lauded pros even badmouthed the PGA Tour on their way out.
“We know they killed Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights,” said three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson. “They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”
